Ozthiys Empire
"No, not even your gods can spare you from the wrath of the King of Kings, Ozthys III..." -'Ozthiysite slaver to Jabbar the Beiyuan' =Origin and History= The domain of Ozthys was once a split land ruled by many ancient kingdoms; the Baibli mystics of the Rivers, As'shur the empire by the sea and their Urarṭu vassals, Sumir the ancients of the gulf, Damiskvas the rebel crown of Syrios, the eastern Shushites united with the Ilamites, the mighty Accadites north of Baibli, the lower half of the Histum kingdoms, the scattered Kosaeite tribes in the north, Hanigalbayt of the north east whose charioteers spread fear to all Semetic men, the northern turban wearing Arbans, and the Iryanites of the farthest eastern extension. Emperor Ozthys I fled from exile in Aejisti'ir and brought with him the feared chariots and bows reknown across the world, and axe-carrying troops so trained that it would strike fear into even the mystic Baibli themselves. Kingdom after kingdom would be subjected to vassalage under Ozthys. Soon he became the king of many thrones, and sat upon many differant kingdoms and empires as the one true ruler. This new federation became known as the Ozthiys Empire. It was not formed in peace, but out of pure force of the exiled upon the land. At its height even the Isrestan Amurites, and the Myoeceans of the east were under rule of this great empire. Though with the death of Ozthys it now has shrunk, and political influence struggles with each hard-won winter and summer. =Empire= The Empire its self is ruled not by one governing body with an extensive unity, but rather like a large federation under one ruler and name, but each province and state with their own laws, religion, language, name, currency, and military. Internal warfare is common as old rivalries cause satraps to use their armies upon eachother, but no military force in the empire is as mighty as the Imperial land-force. Fifty percent of all troops from every satrapy is sent into the Imperial land army. This army deals with conquest and external war. The highest in authority is the Emperor; followed by his most trusted wazir who commands the justice brought upon all subjects under the will of the Emperor. Below the wazir is the Crown Prince who shall ascend to the throne when of age. Below the Crown Prince is the mightiest general, hand selected by the Emperor himself. Below the general of the Imperial Army are the Satraps, and then from this point it all varies per province. The lowest class are the slaves who perform pack animal labor, or the gladiators who fight and die for the amusement of bloodthirsty crowds. =Mysticism= =Warfare= Compared to most of the world Ozthiys has some of the most disciplined troops matched only by the Myoeceans, Atlaanites, and Histi. The elite men march shoulder to shoulder in columns and rows forming a giant grid pattern with a half-man space in between. The kopesh sword is favored over the spear for the elites as well as scimitar, and the armor is thicker than most as the elites will carry not only a large round shield, but will wear helmets of bronze and chest pieces. The common infantry will usually run into battle with spears or axes, and formation is not heard of to them. The charioteers form the most deadly part of the military, as on the side of the chaiots scythes will be fixed, and spears will be hurled by the driver, and troops will be carred into battle on back of these machines. But what putes all the others to shame, save the chariots, are the archers who pack composite bows and wear wool and silk, and carry a side arm of a koseph sword with them. What seperates the military of Ozthiys is the military ladder. At the top sits the royal nobility, and below them their hand picked tacticians. Below them are pit boys, who lead squadrens of men. The rans below them are the soldiers. This has proven to be effective in short campaigns, but in lengty military conflicts and long battles, this order will prove ineffective. Not all wars with-in Ozythys is an imperial campaign. The King struggles to hold onto his subjects, and keep them from battling one another. Civil war is even more common than conquest. As'shur is the fastest growing faction to compete against the royal bloodline for power, and the capital of As'shur pays tributes not to the emperor, but to their city-state king. =Cultures= Baibli: The second oldest culture known to man are the Baibli. It is founded by mystics and magi who watch the stars and boast fine archer armies combined with some of the most feared magi in the world. The Baibli culture abhores human sacrifice brought by the Ozthiys empire, and will often oust and shun Aejisti'irian priests from their sacred halls. The gender division here is great, and women are expected to sell themselves out to outsiders before they may marry. This has lead to a misconception that the Baibli are not xenophobic, but in reality they do this to decieve and pray upon the assumed trust. As'shur: As'shur was the dominent culture in the area prior the Ozthys the great. It was lead by land-faring merchants and snake-tongue diplomats. Aided to this was the value of strength and pleasing their warrior god, but As'Shur had been far less xenophobic than the others, and allowed all cultures within to thrive and exsist as long as taxes are paid, but if not paid then the As'shur concider them an enemy. There is no room for mercy in the As'shurian culture. As'shur became famous for two things, one the wide-spread use of chariots and perfecting the technology by using spikes and scythes, and two their world-reknown archers. Urarṭu: Urarṭu is a relativly new nation formed from a union of ancient tribes. They hold three gods above all others: Kaldi the warrior god, Taise'ba the father of the sky, and Artinis the king of the sun. The ancient Kimerions were split and beaten. The southern tribes naturally fled south, and collected all of their goods and money. It was devoted to the construction of the great monuments in their capital of Teshvan. To the empire, Urarṭu brings bare-back riders and horse archers like never before seen. Sumir: Sumir is an ancient land, and all people hold more reverance for their own city than the entire kingdom as a whole. Due to this Sumir is sometimes called a vassal of Ozthiys, and they have retained their warrior culture's attitued mixed with the civilized upholdings similar to Baibli. In fact the two share such similarities in all things the differance resides soley in the fact that Sumir put far greater value in their charioteers, axemen, and spearmen than into Baibli's archers. Damiskvas: Damiskvas had been a trade city for longer than anyone could remember. Easily it is the oldest city in the known world. Often it is called the City of Asses due to the ammount of donkeys that pass through with gold and silver many. The people here value crafting above all things, but when it comes to matters of agression, Damiskvas rely soley on irregular raiders to attack, loot, and pillage from their enemies in swift motions. Shush and Ilam: Accad: Above even Sumir in war-mongering sit the Accadites. Their primary god is Mardok the deity of warriors. They contribute almsot soley to the imperial guard and elites that make the Ozthiys Empire so deadly to face. Accad was once the world's first empire ruled by a mad witch-king, but the days of magic has nearly died for Accad, and the value of war is placed in the hand of the sword rather than ancient texts. However, the rare few wizards of Accad rival any across the globe for their foul black magic. Histum: Kosae'a: Hanigalbayt: The men of this land share close blood and culture to the As'shur but it is their location that seperates them. Nore are they expansive outside of Syrios. Hanigalbayt has been shrunk since the days of old, and control only the area around Anitok. The military force brought here to the empire is primarily common soldiers with no real elites to boast for their own. Arba: Northan Arban tribes pay vassalage to the cruel Emperor. The Arban culture of the land is strongly Beiyuan with only a rare few cities being constant, mostly migrating in tents. Arba holds uncountable ammount of gods, and have a well defined culture. The soldiers brought from this region are mainly common, light infantry, and unmatched black riders. Iryan: Category:De'tetoom